The World Through New Eyes
by Diana Isabella Swan
Summary: Edward is a spoiled rich boy that gets anything he wants. But one day he meets Bella a foster child that works for her existence. Edward begins to change and appreciate everything he has the more time he spends with Bella. Please rate.
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe you guys are making me do this." I said as my mom practically shoved me out the front door.

"Edward, your father and I think this will be a good experience for you and your siblings," said Esme, getting into the family car, while my siblings were in the car already.

I reluctantly got in the car. I can't believe they were making me and my siblings go through this!

We were going to a soup kitchen because our parents thought we should be more grateful for what we have. We are grateful! Rosalie can't leave her room anymore because she's grateful for her flat screen TV.

The soup kitchen was about 45 minutes away, so it didn't take long to get there. It was this building about the size of our school cafeteria. The workers here are supposed to wear these gross lime green shirts with nametags and are supposed to stay either in the kitchen or behind the trays of food. Lame.

I helped a little with preparing the food while the rest of my family set the tables for the homeless. I've never worked in a kitchen before so this was really weird for me. After that people started coming in so we had to serve the food.

Most of the people here are losers in my opinion that only spend their money on booze, drugs, or cheap entertainment…

Although about an hour after serving food I noticed a girl with long brown hair and the most beautiful looking eyes I have ever seen. She was small, looked very vulnerable. She only dared looking into my eyes and smiled at me for half a second before she went through the rest of the line. But even through that tiny amount of time, I could see that she was different from all these other losers.

She wasn't a loser, she was a victim. She was too shy, too vulnerable too smart to spend her money on that stupid stuff.

I saw her go to a table in the back, she started to eat alone. Didn't she know anyone here? Or was she new? I wonder what happened to her, for her to come to a place like this…

So, when my break came, I set out on a mission, I want to find out who this girl is. I got a plate of food, a drink, and carefully went to the back of the room, where she was. I approached her cautiously; she looked up at me for a second with scared eyes. I gently sat down next to her close enough to start a conversation but far enough to give her some personal space.

"Hi." I said cheerfully.

She looked up at me, bobbed her head and looked back at her food.

"How are you?" She ignored me and continued to pick at her food. "Ok, where are you from?" Still nothing. Ok, this was getting a little frustrated. "What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" She looked up at me with her sad little eyes then looked down again.

"Ok, can you at least tell me your name?" I said frustrated. After about 3 minutes of waiting and her not responding, I got up and was about to leave when she said it. It was so low I almost missed it.

"Bella."

I looked back at her. She was looking at me with these pleading eyes, begging me not to go. I sat back down. "What's your name?" I asked again.

She raised her voice only a little. "Bella. Bella Swan."


	2. Chapter 2

"Bella…that's a nice name…oh! I'm Edward Cullen, nice to meet you." I said holding my hand out.

She glanced briefly at my hand, looked up at me and slightly nodded. She then turned her eyes back to her food and resumed picking at it. _Ok?_ I let my hand drop and started eating my food.

After about 3 minutes of awkward silence, I tried to make her a little more comfortable.

"Sorry for the bland food, but I guess it was all they had."

"It's alright; to these people it's a blessing to even have food right now without charge. Some families starve because of the lack of food…here, these people at least know that there's a place they can go where people don't judge them but accept them and give them food so they won't go hungry…" She looked down and continued

I think that was the longest she's spoken since I met her. What has this girl been through? She makes it sound like she's been through it but at the same time she excludes herself; like she's not homeless. And to say that this food is a blessing, it's bland as hell! The cafeteria food at my school is better than this!..and that's saying a lot.

"That's why," she continued, "I admire what you're doing here." She looked at me with a small smile. "It takes a lot for a guy such as yourself, a teenager, to spend their afternoon here," she waved her hand around, "serving complete strangers so they won't go hungry, usually there's somewhere else to go, a date, a party, a night out on the town somewhere…stuff like that. What I'm trying to say is thank you, for everything your doing." She smiled at me before going back to finish her food.

Wow…I feel like a dirty fake… She's thanking me for coming here to serve the hungry out of my own free will. If only she knew how my parents forced me to come here, what would she think then? "It's no problem." Man, I feel like shit taking credit for this.

I tried to change the subject, "So…are you homeless or do you have a place to stay but no food?" I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. _What the hell kind of question is that?! _

She looked up at me and stared at me for about a minute, I can already see her slapping me. She looked back down to her food. "No, I'm technically not homeless but it feels that way sometimes."

"You're in a tight situation?" I asked gently.

It took her a minute to respond, "Yeah, you can say that."

I looked at her and saw so many emotions in her eyes that she was keeping in… "Do…do you want to talk about it?"

She looked up at me surprised, "Umm…I don't really want to bore you or waste your time with my whining when I should be grateful that I'm better off than others who don't have anywhere to stay at night. I at least have a bed to sleep in at night. Most of these people don't so…"

"I see where you're coming from, but it's ok to talk about it. People who are well off, complain all the time…trust me." I looked away and mumbled the last part.

"The thing is, I just met you and all I know about you really is your name and…"

"Well then," I cut her off, "why don't we get to know each other? If you don't want to talk here then there's a tree right outside here that we can sit at and talk a little more if you want, because personally, these seats are kinda uncomfortable." I said getting up and stretching.

That comment got me a smile from her. _Yes!_

"So," I said reaching my hand out to her, so she had the choice to accept or deny my request, I will not push he, "you wanna come?"

She looked at my hand uncertainly, looked up at me, then looked back at my hand. Hesitantly, she raised her hand and took mine. It was warm and rough, as if worn out from excessive work but still comfortable.

I helped her from her seat and held her hand as we walked out. I noticed Emmett and Alice looking at us from across the room. Emmett had his eyebrows raised while Alice had a smile on her face. "Come on." I ignored them and continued to walk to the entrance with Bella.

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**2nd Chpt Finished!!**

**~Please Review **


	3. Chapter 3

There was a brisk wind that blew at my face. The line to the cafeteria had gotten shorter. The sun was beginning to set behind the mountains in the distance. I always loved this time of day, late enough to be dark but still early enough to see where you were going. Bella started to shiver.

That's when I noticed that she wasn't wearing a jacket; her hand was ice-cold in mine. I gripped it tighter.

I looked over at her; she looked so small and fragile against the wind, although she didn't seem to notice.

"Are you cold?" I asked.

She looked up surprised. "What?"

"Are you cold?" I repeated. "You aren't wearing a jacket."

"Oh, no, thank you for asking." She said looking down at her feet rather than my face.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

I led her to a bench just outside the building. I let go of her hand and sat down. She stayed standing.

I patted the seat beside me in invitation. She looked at the bench, then without saying anything, she walked pass the bench and went a little farther to the tree that was planted a few feet away from me. She looked over at me apologetically for a second then sat down at the base of the tree.

"Ok then," I got up from the bench and walked over to her, "I see you rather prefer this tree over me." I sat down next to her.

She was quick to correct me, "Oh! No, no, it's not what you think. I just prefer the ground than benches because the earth is softer than the wood."

_Never thought of that._

"I was kidding, no if you like it here then that's cool." I said sincerely. Laying down I could see the changing colors of the sky, could feel the soft dirt and grass under me, it felt nice.

I started asking Bella questions which she, after she asked me not to ask her anything too private, hesitantly answered.

I learned that she was 17, my age. Her favorite color changes with her mood, currently, it was blue. She was an only child but hadn't seen her parents in a long time.

"Is that why you're here?" I asked curiously.

She froze. She refused to look at me; she just stared at her shoes like they were the most fascinating thing on the planet. I had a feeling I had asked the wrong question.

"Look, if that's too much for you to talk about, then you don't have to tell me anything."

"No, it's ok; um…it's a long story actually." She seemed to be deciding whether or not to share it with me. This was oddly, something I really wanted her to do.

"Tell me." I said sitting up looking at her face. "I have time."

She looked into my eyes, as if trying to find something in them. "Alright." She took a deep breath. "My parents met when they were really young, still in high school. They both fell in love. They became careless, believing that what they had was true love. After their high school graduation, they got married. Everyone thought it was a huge mistake, marriage at such a young age and all. Well, my dad was friends with this really wealthy man, and my dad didn't have any money to buy a house or anything so he asked his friend for some money. His friend gave him the money and my dad promised to pay him back."

She paused, I had a feeling there was a bad ending to this story, "A year later, I was born, my mom told me things couldn't have been better, that we were fine. But my dad was lying to my mom about our financial affairs. My dad had secretly been borrowing money from his friend throughout the entire year. The debt was starting to build up. My parents began fighting and finally separated. But the debt was still on their heads, they met with the man and made a deal with him, I was 15, that was the night my parents came home and told me to pack my bags that I was to work for the man's family until the debt was paid off." Tears started to leak out of her eyes. "I've been working with them ever since, I haven't seen my parents in 2 years. I've heard from them, but only from time to time, they're also working to get the debt paid off and get me back home, but the debts too big, it'll still take a few years to pay it off."

She sat there quietly, silent tears coming out of her eyes. I sat frozen feeling sorry for her and also guilty for having everything I wanted and never appreciating it.

"I-I'm really sorry Bella." I didn't know what else to say.

She rubber her eyes, "It's ok, I mean, it's not your fault or anything. And besides it's not all bad, they have a daughter my age, we're completely different but it's ok to have company." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Is she nice to you?"

She hesitated, "On a good day she's bearable." She finally said.

I didn't believe that. "What do you do for them? Are you like their maid or something?"

"Something like that, I cook, I clean, I wash the dishes, do the laundry, take care of the house, that type of stuff, but I'm also their daughter's personal slave, I have to do whatever she tells me to do" she looked up at the almost black sky, "This is the only time I have to myself, that's why I come here instead of eating with them, I'm not allowed to eat with them, I eat in the kitchen, I also like to have some time to myself, so it's a win-win."

"Y-you don't go out?"

She shook her head, "Not allowed to. The only time I go out is if their daughter needs someone to hold their bags." She said truthfully.

What kind of hell is this girl going through? Not allowed to go out? See her parents? Be a maid? Which family is this? It has to be someone here in Forks; she wouldn't go too far to get some food. She interrupted my thoughts.

"Do you know what time it is?" She said looking at the sky.

"Oh, yeah, it's 7:30." I said consulting my watch.

She looked apologetic. "I have to go now, they'll be wondering where I am and why the dishes aren't done." She said getting up.

I stood up quickly, "You can't stay a little longer? Please?"

Bella looked genuinely surprised by my request. "S-sorry, I can't besides I think someone's looking for you." She said indicating the front of the building.

There I could see in the light of the entrance my little snoopy sister Alice peeking out to see us. _Geez Alice! _

"Anyway I think you have to go to." Bella said as she started to walk away.

"Wait." I said trailing after her. "When can I see you again?"

Bella's eyes got wide with surprise, and then she looked nervous. "I think it would be better if you didn't."

"But," she cut me off.

"Look its better this way for you and for me." She said quickly and ran off.

I stood frozen; wanting to run after her but couldn't get my legs to move. Here I met an incredible girl not 2 hours ago and she's gone. By the time I my feet began to work again, she was out of sight.

I turned and started toward the entrance of the cafeteria. Alice gave me a look that was filled with pity.

"Not a word." I said and walked in.


End file.
